Amnesiac
by DeathRavenLove
Summary: Naruto is an amnesiac boy that wakes up in the castle of Konoha. Just what exactly will happen as Naruto tries to find out his past and his ties with the war and the mysterious group, Akatsuki. AU. SasuNaru and ItaNaru and other minor pairings. ON HIATUS
1. Awakening

**A/N: Hello everyone! This is another fic that just totally came out of the blue. I hope you enjoy, and I've attempted to take what I can learn from my past fics. Please bear with me as I try to finish this fic. Read and review so I know how you like it!

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Naruto ran through the forest at high speeds. He didn't even know why he was running in the first place… Was it because he broke that machine? No. He was forgiven. By why was he running from his own friends? Where was the man who could just take it all away? Where was the one man who made him feel special? Naruto tripped on root of a giant tree. Naruto just lay there, awaiting an attack, but he felt none. He looked up and saw two men, one with a long blonde braid, and the other with short red hair.

"Sorry Naruto-kun," the blonde one said with remorse. He suddenly threw a kunai, with an exploding note attached to it, right next to Naruto. The explosion threw Naruto up into the air, where the red haired one threw senbons and pinned him to the ground. "Do we have to finish him off? I don't want to kill the little blonde hottie…"

"It's ok," The other man said. "Let's go before they realize how long this actually took." The two left, hand in hand with each other, the blonde one on the brink of tears.

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Naruto painfully opened his eyes. Where was he? Suddenly he heard several gears shift, and he saw the door open. A pink-haired girl with beautiful green eyes entered. She looked at Naruto and slightly gasped. "Oh! You're awake! That's good. Tell me, can you sit up?" Naruto tried to find his voice, but couldn't. He, instead, sat up to show the woman he was fine. The woman walked over to him, and preceded to take off his shirt. Naruto looked at her with wide eyes, but she just sighed. "I need to spread the disinfectant. Please sit still." She took out her first aid kit, and put some alcohol on a cotton ball. She started to rub some of the minor wounds, which made Naruto hiss. "I'm sorry. Please try to sit still." Naruto weakly nodded and allowed the woman to finish, hissing a few times. When she was done she put her things away and looked at him. "Your eyes are so blue," she mumbled.

Naruto felt uncomfortable under her gaze and tried to talk. "Who are you?" he asked in a raspy voice.

"I am Sakura," She said. "You are here in the castle of Konoha. Now who are you?"

"I'm Naruto," he continued. "Where am I right now? How did I get here?"

"Please don't talk. A knight found you half alive outside the city. You're sleeping in his room right now." Naruto nodded, looking like he didn't understand it. Then suddenly, the atmosphere was broken by his stomach growling loudly. Sakura giggled a little as she asked, "Would you like something to eat?" Naruto nodded with a little more enthusiasm. "Can you stand?" Naruto tried to get out of bed, and found it hard to move his body parts.

"Why does it feel like my arms and legs are dead?"

"They must be tired. You were asleep for over a week." Sakura helped Naruto get out the door. They trudged through the castle and arrived at a huge door. Sakura pushed it open, and Naruto saw many people. Servants, maids, knights, all kinds of people. At least, that was judging by their clothing at least. Sakura brought Naruto to a table with two other people at it, and told him to stay there while she got him something to eat.

"Hey new kid," one of the people said. It came from another woman with long blonde hair. "You're that kid who was injured, right? What's your name?"

"Naruto," he responded on instinct.

The girl nodded. "Nice to meet you. My name is Ino, and this is my boyfriend, Chouji." Naruto looked at the slightly chubby man that was sitting across from her. "I can see that you already met Sakura. She is my best friend, and I think she is just a little too caring of everyone."

"Now now Ino," Chouji said. "It's what she wants to do. You know how she is. Always looking out for those who can't take care of herself. It's like she's a mother to everyone."

Sakura returned with a bowl of cereal and a glass of water. "Please drink the water first," she regarded to Naruto with a smile. "It should help your throat." Naruto drank it, and started to munch on the bowl of oat flakes and milk. He ate rapidly, listening to the others chatting amiably. When he had downed both the cereal and the milk, Sakura asked him, "So Naruto. Do you remember anything before you were attacked."

Naruto looked at her, and thought deeply. "No… I don't remember anything. I'm sorry."

"It's ok," Sakura said with a smile. "I Just wanted to know more about you. I guess I'll have to show you to Lady Hokage today. She will know what to do with you."

"It's weird though," Ino said. "Why would Sasuke be interested in you? He's seen a lot more orphans out on the street before."

"You don't know, Ino. Naruto's wounds were really bad. And I'm the only one who has seen them."

"Uhmm…" Naruto interrupted. "Why are we the only ones at this table?"

"Because Sakura, Ino, and I are the cooks," Chouji explained. "We prepare the food for the rest of the castle, but by the time we get to eat, the others are already done." Naruto nodded as he looked around. He didn't notice it, but the others had all cleared out. Only a few lingering people remained. "Would you like to help us clean up? It would make everything faster."

"I would love to help," Naruto said as he picked up bowl and started to help. In approximately fifteen minutes, they had the entire cafeteria cleaned up.

"Come on," Ino said, "We are headed to Lady Hokage's office for our training right now. I think she would also like to see you." Naruto nodded as he slowly trailed Sakura and Ino out the kitchen. They all walked along the halls, Sakura and Ino chatting while Naruto just remained silent.

Suddenly, Naruto spoke up. "You said something about some Sasuke guy finding me. Who is Sasuke?"

"He's one of the knights," Sakura explained. "Every girl loves him, and he's some sort of prodigy."

"And he's also going to be MY fiancé," Ino said.

"Oh come on," Sakura said with a smirk. "You said that you love Chouji."

"Ever heard of trading up?"

"You would never do that to poor Chouji. He's too good to let slip away."

They kept arguing as they walked, Naruto more interested in the layout of the castle then what the girls had to talk about. Naruto noticed that they stopped at an elegantly carved door. "Ready?" Sakura asked as they walked in.

Both Sakura and Ino walked in and bowed to the woman sitting in the chair. Naruto just stood there, wonder what the girls were doing. "Naruto," Ino whispered. "Bow to Lady Hokage." Naruto immediately bowed like Sakura and Ino were doing.

"All three of you, rise." the woman said. She looked at each of them, but allowing her eyes to linger on Naruto. "So, this is the boy, correct?"

"Yes it is, Lady Tsunade," Sakura explained. "His name is Naruto, but he tells me that he knows nothing prior to his incident."

"I see… Well Naruto, I can only assume that you are an orphan, and that you don't have a home." Naruto nodded, seeing that it actually did fit him. "Well than, would you like to stay at this castle?"

"Lady Tsunade?" Sakura asked with a little fear in her voice.

"I would like that," Naruto said.

"I will allow you to stay on one condition, however. You must become a knight. Starting today."

"Lady Tsunade!" Sakura said, a little more fiercely. "I'm afraid I can not allow you to do that. You do not know how critical Naruto's wounds are."

"Oh really? Show me then."

Sakura sighed at the hard-headedness of their Hokage and looked towards Naruto. "Could you please take off your shirt?" Naruto nervously nodded and peeled off the dark blue shirt that he didn't even know he had. What happened to his bright orange shirt? Tsunade smirked at his nervousness, but it immediately disappeared at this sight of his wounds. There were multiple gashes and cuts all over his skin, and there was some burned and flaky skin.

"Put your shirt back on, Naruto," the woman said. Naruto complied and then there were a few more moments of silence. "Very well than… Naruto is allowed to take the week off. Do not exert yourself, and I will trust that you, Sakura, will personally see to him."

Sakura smiled. "Of course Lady Tsunade. I will protect him."

Tsunade nodded. "But I do expect you to know the basic mechanics of being a knight by next week. You are dismissed Naruto. Sakura, send him to do something."

Sakura nodded and pulled Naruto outside. When they were out the door, she sighed with relief. "Thank goodness I got you a week off. You don't have to do anything to strenuous for this week, but be careful of the knights. They might work you like a dog next week when they hear they get someone new. Please go help Chouji in the kitchen. I will be with you as soon as my medic lessons are done." Naruto nodded as he watched Sakura head back into the office. Naruto walked along the hallway, remembering every path way. He had remembered how to get to the cafeteria, and he was just about there when he ran into someone. Being shorter than most other people never really was good, because Naruto fell back onto the floor. He looked up at the stranger and noticed that he was wearing servant clothes.

"Oh. I'm sorry if I ran into you. It was my fault. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." The person had a small black ponytail, and when he turned around, Naruto saw that it was a guy with red eyes.

"Naruto-chan! I missed you!" the man exclaimed as he hugged Naruto.

Naruto suddenly backed away from the man. "How do you know my name?"

"Don't be afraid," the man said as he got closer. He spread apart Naruto's bangs and revealed his forehead. The man bent down and place a small kiss on Naruto's forehead. "I won't be able to see you for some time… Please be a good boy until I return." The man got up and started to walk away. Naruto suddenly realized what had happened.

"Wait! Who are you?"

The man looked at him. "You don't remember do you? It's ok. Think hard Naruto-chan. See you later." The man waved and gave a wink as he faded out of sight. Naruto wanted to follow the man and ask him some questions, but a feeling told him to ignore the strange man as he hurried off to the kitchen.

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**A/N: Hmmm... I didn't particularly like this first chapter. Oh well, it's always hard to start out a first chapter. Please review, comment, anything! Just so I know people are reading and tell me how it is!**


	2. Knights

**A/N: Thanks to the people that reviewed! I love them all! Even though there is only few… I think of 1 to be 100. Ok, other then my obvious calculation problem, let's start with the formalities. I am so sorry that I couldn't finish this sooner. I have the usual homework problem… It's a little saddening tears up… I'll see what I can do about the next chapter… Please review… BTW, I've decided to start two other fic ideas… God help me…**

**Disclaimer: I totally forgot to put this in chapter one… Oh well, we all know who made Narutodrum roll K. Masashi!**

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Naruto walked along the hallway until he reached the kitchen. He saw Chouji working on things for lunch. "Cool," Naruto said. "Can I help?"

"Can you make a sandwich?" Chouji asked, while constantly stirring a pot of soup.

"Of course!" Naruto said as he went over to the bread and the condiments. They both absentmindedly worked, barely talking, for two hours. By the end, trays of sandwiches were out and so were pots of soup, ready to be eaten by the residents of the castle.

"Thanks for the help, Naruto" Chouji said with a smile. "I got to finish an hour earlier than usual. Lunch usually begins around 12:30."

Naruto looked at the clock and saw that it was only about 11:35. "So what do you do when you have free time?"

"I like to try out and perfect new recipes. Would you like to help me?"

Naruto immediately brightened. "I would love to!" Over the time span of the next hour, Chouji gave Naruto food after food, always asking what Naruto thought of them. Every time, Naruto said that it was delicious, and that Chouji was the best.

Just before it was lunch time, Naruto exclaimed, "Man! I'm stuffed. I couldn't eat another bite if I tried! I really hope Sakura doesn't make me eat anything…"

"Can you try one more thing for me?" Chouji asked.

Naruto looked down at his stomach and smiled. "Sure. I think I can eat one more thing without barfing."

Chouji went into the kitchen and brought out a bowl of broth. In it were noodles. "I call it ramen. It is rather unhealthy, but it is also quite delicious if I do say so myself. It is just noodles and broth with a lot of spices in it."

Naruto took a small slurp, but as soon as he had that, he finished the entire bowl in 5 minutes flat. Naruto finished down thesopu and asked, "Got any more?"

"Erh, sure kid," Chouji said as he went inside to get another bowl of ramen. Naruto ate about 2 more bowls before Chouji refused to give him more. "You'll kill yourself if you eat more. Then Sakura will really have my head for that." Naruto groaned and said he was still hungry. Suddenly, he noticed a group of knights walk in, followed by the maids and servants. But there was no sign of Sakura and Ino. Or that mysterious man that Naruto had encountered in the hallway. Naruto sat at the table he sat at in the morning, with Chouji drinking his own bowl of soup. Suddenly Naruto didn't feel so good anymore.

"Naruto, are you ok?" Sakura asked.

"Sakura?" Naruto asked, a little dazed.

"You look tired… Did you eat anything yet?" Sakura asked with a concerned gaze.

"Like a little too much," Naruto said as he burped.

"Now you're feeding the new kid poison," Ino said to her boyfriend. "Thanks a lot!"

"What can I say?" Chouji said as he shrugged. "He loves my cooking."

"Hmm…" Sakura mumbled, as she glared at Chouji. Suddenly she turned her attention back to Naruto. "Naruto, can you stand up? There is something I would like you to do during the lunch period." Naruto only nodded as he let Sakura help him stand up. Sakura asked Ino to bring her a sandwich, and she led Naruto over to a table filled with about 6 men. More appropriately, knights. Sakura clasped her hands together at the front of the table. Everyone watched her, some paying more attention than others.

"Everyone this is Naruto, your newest recruit!" Naruto looked at everyone. Some seemed to look through him, while others stared at him like a piece of meat.

"Hmm, if it ain't a newbie!" A boy with red triangular tattoos under his eyes said. "We haven't seen one in a while, have we guys?"

"Don't get your hopes up, Kiba," another one drawled out. This one had his hair drawn back in ponytail that stuck up. "If you scare this one away, I think Tsunade will actually hurt you… Besides, he's that orphan boy he found…"

"Doesn't mean I can't rough him up a little!"

"Enough!" Sakura yelled. "No one will be getting to him today, because of his wounds. He will be out for a week, but Tsunade wants him to know the mechanics of being a knight."

"Of course Sakura!" a boy with a bowl cut styled hair yelled out. His eyebrows were extremely bushy, and it almost scared Naruto to just look at him. "We would do anything for you! A true lady of Konoha!"

"Drop the excitement Lee," another boy said, calmly. He looked at Sakura and told her, "We would love to show him around. Just have him meet us after lunch."

"Actually," Sakura said as she dragged Naruto even closer. "I would like it if he became acquainted with you now." She pushed Naruto into a gap between the boy with the bowl-cut, and the one with his head on the table. The one who had apparently been trying to sleep shuttered, muttering something about troublesome females.

Sakura patted Naruto's head reassuringly, and left him with the other knights. For about a minute, Naruto felt about five pairs of eyes on him. "Uh, Hi… I'm Naruto."

The polite and calm knight with pale eyes sighed. "I might as well introduce our group, since no one could actually care less… My name is Neji. The one brooding next to me is Sasuke." He pointed to the raven who only seemed to stare at the blonde boy. Naruto felt a little weird under his gaze. Neji pointed to the boy with red tattoos, who was sitting right next to him. "That is Kiba. He is one of the most hyper of the knights… But he does have pride… Somewhere in that little brain of his." Neji felt a smack come from his head, but he ignored it.

He pointed to the knight who wore a collar jacket up to his face. His sunglasses gave him the aura of mystery… "That is Shino. He likes to keep to himself, but he is a pretty good fighter." Shino only nodded at Naruto as Neji went on. "The one that is trying to sleep next to you is Shikamaru. He is the laziest out of all of us, but I wouldn't underestimate him in battle."

Shikamaru groaned and readjusted the position of his head. "Shut up! I'm trying to sleep…"

Neji pointed towards the guy with bushy brows. "And that is…"

"Rock Lee!" the boy suddenly burst out. "My name is Rock Lee! Warrior of Youth and sole student of Gai-Sensei!" Naruto flinched at the boy's sudden outburst, but no one seemed to notice. Not even the people at the other tables.

"He is just like that," Neji pointed out. "We don't really know why, but he acts a lot like General Gai."

"I do not just act like Gai-Sensei! His life and word is in me! Come, fellow knights! Let us show Naruto around!"

Most of them just groaned as Lee tried to get up. "Uhm, I would rather just get to know you here…" Naruto blurted out. Lee nodded and seated himself waiting if Naruto ever asked him a question.

"More importantly, Blondie," Kiba said. "how old are you?"

"Uhm…" Naruto stammered. "How old am I?"

"You know, how long you have before you die…"

Naruto shook his head. "No, I don't know…" Neji looked at the blonde, intently, focusing chakra into his eyes. Naruto felt uncomfortable under his gaze, especially since he looked like he was about to pop a vein.

"He should be about 17 years old," Neji said as he withdrew the chakra from his eyes.

"How can you tell?" Naruto asked earnestly.

"It is a special power that resides in his eyes!" Rock Lee explained. "It lets him see many things!" After that, the entire table had become quiet.

Near the end of lunch, only Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto remained at their table. Sakura walked on over. "Neji," Sakura said. "I want you to bring Naruto to the training grounds. But I don't want you guys training! I want Naruto to be able to relax, and just learn." Neji nodded and Sakura left Naruto in their hands. This could be a longer afternoon then Naruto expected…

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**A/N: I didn't really like this chapter. I'm going to stop this a little and work on my other fics. I'll start working on this once I add a little more to the plot… And yes, I know that this could've been longer. I'm sorry that I had to cut this short. The next chapters will be longer when I post 'em up. Review!**


	3. Red Chakra

A/N: Oh your god

A/N: Oh your god! You guys are still waiting for this, right? I'm soooooo sorry… Look, this will be moving slowly, but I promise to you that I will finish it. Once I finish TH, I'll focus on this and TFO. Sorry for this MASSIVE hiatus I'm going through…

**Disclaimer: Why don't I own them?**

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"And this is the training grounds," Neji said, as he showed Naruto the field outside. There was a grass field to the side, and there were a bunch of wooden posts and trees where the soldiers could use those for martial arts and target training.

"Wow…" Naruto said, as he watched the knights spar and attack each other. Some of them were resting, some of them were fighting, and some of them were doing even more amazing things. "Neji! Look!" Naruto squealed, as he pointed towards Sasuke. Naruto was acting like a little kid seeing things for the first time. "Sasuke just blew out fire. How did he do that?"

Neji stared at Naruto intensely, and Naruto thought he was doing what he did in the lunchroom earlier. Eventually, Neji sighed. "How much do you really know?"

"Not much…" Naruto sighed. "It's like I woke up, but all my memories were from a life before me. I only remembered my name…"

"Hmm," Neji said. "Well than, I might as well re-teach you. Sasuke could do that because he used a special power. That special power is in all of us, some have it more than others. That power can be exerted into all forms, such as attacks and healing. That power is called chakra. Sakura and Ino are training under Lady Tsunade to become medics. We are training to be knights for Castle Konoha."

"Neji," Naruto suddenly said. "What are you training for?"

Neji's expression grew grim. "Castle Konoha has recently been in a feud with a group of mercenaries call the 'Akatsuki.' They are a dangerous group of renegade people that fight for their own reasons. We have yet to discover that reason, but we just know that they are bad."

Naruto nodded. Suddenly, he had an idea. "Neji. Can you teach me how to use chakra? I don't want to know any moves. I just want to learn how to bring it out."

Neji considered that option. "I guess it would be one of the mechanics for a knight," he stated. "Very well than. Hold out you palm." Naruto did as he was told. Neji held his palm out as well. "Chakra is your inner strength," he explained. "Draw the inner strength within your body. Try to form it into a small ball and put that ball into your hand. Like this." Neji focused his chakra into a ball in his hand. He held it out to Naruto. "Like this. This is an excellent chakra control exercise. If you use too little, then the ball won't form right. If you use too much, then it will explode on you." Neji waited for some form of response from Naruto. But he was just staring at the blue ball of chakra in Neji's hand. Neji sighed and released the chakra. "Do you understand Naruto?"

Naruto looked at Neji. "Yea," he said enthusiastically. He tried doing what Neji did, focusing his chakra into the palm of his hand.

Neji watched him as the chakra seeped out. 'On the first try too,' he thought. Then, there was three thing's Neji noticed. One, the chakra was red. Two, it was growing unusually. Three, Neji felt himself being blown back. Neji felt himself slam against the wall, and fall back down. His back ached a little, but he picked himself up and hobbled over to where Naruto laid on the ground.

"Naruto!" he screamed, concern evident in his voice. Naruto laid on the floor with his eyes closed and his palm out.

"Unghh…" he moaned. "Ouch… What was that?"

Neji sighed. He wasn't going to be killed by Sakura… yet… "I don't know. That was one heck of an explosion. Come on, can you sit up?" Naruto sat up, and looked at Neji dazedly. "Take off your shirt," Neji commanded.

"What?" Naruto asked in surprise.

"I need to see your wounds from that explosion, if there were any. That explosion was rather big. It actually got everyone's attention."

Naruto suddenly noticed everything staring at him. "B-b-but," Naruto stammered.

"Do you want Sakura to kill you later?" Neji asked. Naruto thought of the possibilities. He could tell Sakura, or he could just take his shirt off and reveal his wounds. Some of the knights were already half naked from sweating so much, so Naruto decided to do the more sensible choice. For a man anyways…

Naruto pulled off the dark blue shirt that he never owned, and he felt everyone staring at him. Naruto looked around at everyone, and stared at his own chest. He gasped. There were no signs of external wounds on his chest and back. There was only his flawless tan skin. Naruto looked at his arms as well, and there were no more cuts and bruises. Naruto was confused, and tried to think about what happened, until he heard a familiar someone.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled out worriedly. She ran into the field of knights and pulled Naruto up. "I thought I told you not to overexert him," Sakura said accusingly to Neji.

"Sakura," Neji tried to say.

"Don't give me any crap Neji!" Sakura shouted. "I trusted you! I might as well ask Sasuke to watch Naruto!"

Sasuke, who had been watching the blonde, suddenly realized his name had been called. He looked at Sakura.

"But Sakura," Neji tried to say again, but was cut off.

"Forget it Neji," Sakura said. She pulled Naruto's hand and told him to come with her. But Naruto held his ground.

"Look Sakura!" He yelled. "No wounds!"

Sakura looked over Naruto and couldn't believe what she saw. The gashes and cuts that had been all over Naruto's chest and back were now gone. It was as if he had never been hurt. "B-but how?" Sakura asked, as she let go of Naruto's arm. Naruto shrugged, obviously knowing nothing.

Suddenly, someone else interjected. "Sakura," Sasuke said in his cool calm voice. "Go tell Lady Tsunade about this. I'll bring Naruto to his room."

Sakura nodded, and ran off to Lady Tsunade's office. Naruto looked at Sasuke. He didn't know Sasuke too well, and he just hoped that Sasuke wouldn't kill him on the spot. Sasuke looked like he would do that. Sasuke noticed Naruto staring at him. "What do you want, dobe?"

Naruto's pride suddenly kicked in. "I'm not a dobe, teme!"

"Whatever," Sasuke said, as he walked off to his room, leaving Naruto behind.

"Hey, wait up!" Naruto yelled as he ran after Sasuke's retreating form.

Eventually, everyone backed away and started training and sparring again. All except Neji. Neji sat down by the three generals, and their senseis. General Gai, General Kakashi, and General Iruka. Although they did prefer to be called senseis.

"You saw that, didn't you?" Neji said to the three men. They stopped talking amongst themselves and turned to him. "The red chakra. You did see that, didn't you?"

Kakashi nodded, which was rare. He was not the type to do much. "I don't believe it. I had heard from Lady Hokage that his wounds were rather serious. But he seems perfectly fine."

"Except that red chakra," Gai added in.

"I do hope he's okay with Sasuke," Iruka said. All of them nodded at once. Sasuke did have a way of being irrational.

Sasuke walked down the hallway, and Naruto followed closely behind. They walked in silence, which seemed maddening to Naruto.

They kept walking until Naruto found himself in a familiar hallway. It was the hallway to his room. They stopped in front of his room. Naruto gave Sasuke a big grin. "Thank you for walking me to my room."

Sasuke stared at Naruto with a blank expression. Finally, he said. "It's actually _my _room."

Naruto blushed slightly. "Oh… I'm sorry. Do you want your room back?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Seeing as how you're going to be staying here, you'll get your room soon. I'm bunking with Neji for a while. Let me just get some things."

Sasuke opened the door, and walked in. Naruto followed him, and watched as he opened the wooden closet, and stared digging through it. What Naruto noticed was that Sasuke took out several shirts, all either blue or black. Naruto then looked down at the shirt he was wearing. He blushed again.

"I'm sorry. Is this your shirt?"

Sasuke turned to him with a bland expression. "Yea… Don't worry so much about it… By the way, my name is Sasuke. Thought you just might want to know that."

"Oh, you're Sasuke?" Naruto asked. Sasuke looked at him with a confused expression. "Someone told me that you found me outside all beaten up. You brought me here, didn't you? Thank you…"

For once, Sasuke didn't have anything to say. Or he didn't want to say anything. Sasuke just took the clothes and walked out of the room. Naruto watch Sasuke leave. "Did I say anything wrong?" Naruto asked himself.

Sasuke ran back to Neji's room, panting. He dropped the clothes on the floor, and fell on the sleeping bag that he had out. He lay there, until he heard someone cough, and he saw Neji coughing into his hand. Neji simply smiled and said, "Took you long enough to realize I was here."

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, trying to catch his breath.

"Came to see what's wrong," Neji said casually.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked.

Neji smiled at him. "C'mon Sasuke. I've known you ever since we were little. I know that if I attacked you right now, you'd be prepared to defend. But lately, you have seemed to be… off. I know you were staring at us when we were at the training grounds. I know you let your guard down around Naruto. I know you wouldn't normally save a dying orphan out on the streets."

"Your point?" Sasuke asked, playing dumb.

Neji smiled. "I think you and I already know that answer…" Neji got up and walked out of the room.

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**A/N: Oh no! What was Neji's point? Oo Moving on… Sorry for my hiatus. Just know that I'm not dead! (yet…) Until next time my beloved readers! Please review! If you do, I might update this fic faster!**


	4. News, News, and More News

**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm sorry for the delay I've been having on this. However, even though the updates are inconsistent, I WILL finish it! (Watch me not…)**

**BTW, Sorry for the delay. I had finished this, but then I accidentally deleted it without saving. So it took me a while to rewrite it, but I liked how it turned out.**

**Disclaimer: I pity those people… Those people who constantly cry themselves to sleep, just because they don't own Naruto… And yes. I am one of those people.**

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Naruto sat down on the bed, not knowing what to do. Since Sakura was coming to get him anytime now, he didn't know what to do in the mean time. He immediately remembered his chakra lesson. He held out his hand and tried to focus his chakra. 'Red chakra…' he thought, as he saw it seep out of his hand. 'Isn't it supposed to be blue? Whatever.' Naruto tried to form it into a ball. It started to form into a sphere, but it immediately exploded. Naruto blew away the smoke, and tried again. After a few more tries, he had become exhausted. But he found out that he could sustain the chakra in the form of a sphere for 5 seconds already.

At that time, Ino came in. "Hey Naruto," she said. "It's time to go. Tsunade said she wants to see you." Naruto walked with Ino to Tsunade's office. Along the way, Ino noticed Naruto's shirt. "Naruto, what's wrong with your shirt? It's a little cut up and dirty."

Naruto looked around and looked back at Ino. "Don't tell Sakura, but I was practicing my chakra in the room."

Ino looked at Naruto strangely. "You can already utilize chakra? How long?"

Naruto smiled and held his hand out. The ball of red chakra formed in his hand. This time, it lasted for 10 seconds before it started to dissipate.

"Wow," Ino said, when the ball had disappeared. "I don't know anyone who can excel that fast at chakra control. I heard that you only learned what chakra was today, and you can control it almost perfectly already… Oh no, we have to get to Tsunade, quick." Ino pulled Naruto by the hand, as they ran to Tsunade's office. When they walked in, Ino politely bowed. Naruto, as clueless as he was, didn't do a thing.

"Naruto," Tsunae said, as she turned to him. "Take off your shirt."

Naruto looked at Tsunade. "Is everyone in this castle a pervert!?" he yelled out.

"Shut up you little brat!" Tsunade yelled back. "I need to check your wounds. Sakura said you have fully recovered." Naruto nervously threw Sasuke's shirt off. Tsunade looked at the front of Naruto's chest before she told him to turn around. Naruto slowly turned around, and to Tsunade's amazement, there was no signs of the wounds from this morning.

"Why do you think he recovered so fast, Tsunade?" Sakura asked, as she helped Naruto put his shirt back on.

Tsunade thought to herself for a little while. "Tell me Naruto," he said, as she locked eyes with her. "Is there anything unusual with your health or chakra?"

Naruto thought to himself. He shook his head. "No, I feel fine. Unless you count that red chakra…"

"What?!" Tsunade yelled out. "Did you say red chakra!?" Naruto nodded. Tsunade closed her eyes and seemed to recompose herself from within. "Very well than Naruto. That will be all. You are dismissed." Naruto nodded, and left.

"What's wrong Tsunade?" Sakura asked, when she was sure Naruto couldn't hear her.

Tsunade sighed. "Sakura. Ino. Do you both remember the incident of the 4th Hokage?"

Both Sakura and Ino gasped. "How could we forget?" Ino asked. "That was when the demon, Kyuubi attacked."

"Yea," Sakura continued. "The 4th had to seal the Kyuubi within a vessel. After that, he died from chakra exhaust, and the castle accepted you as their new leader."

Tsunade nodded, telling them that they were right. "However, there is a problem. Naruto bears a stunning resemblance to the 4th Hokage. And… I remember the day of the attack as if it was yesterday… The chakra Kyuubi used was red…"

Both of the younger girls gasped. "Tsunade!" Sakura said. "You aren't insinuating…"

"Sakura," she said, in a serious voice that she rarely ever used. "I want you... I need you to follow Naruto. Exhaust him. When he is strained or exhausted, the seal should clearly show. That will prove that he is truly the vessel of Kyuubi." Sakura nodded and left to go after Naruto. "Ino," she said, turning to her. "Tell this to Gai, Kakashi, and Iruka. But don't tell any of the knights." Ino nodded and left as well. Tsunade turned to look out the window. "Just where did you come from, Naruto?"

* * *

Naruto walked down the hallway humming to himself. Naruto didn't know what to do. It was his first day… And yet, so much had already happened to him. But if he started training now, he would become a knight sooner! Naruto wanted to prove himself worthy enough. Maybe he would someday take the old hag's place! Naruto smiled at his makeshift future and started running to the training courtyard. He suddenly stopped when he heard his name being called. He stopped and looked back at Sakura. "Hey Sakura!" Naruto called out. "What is it?"

Sakura stopped in front of Naruto to take some breathes. When she felt better, she got up and said, "Oh nothing. I just want to accompany you to the courtyard."

Naruto blinked. "I'm okay Sakura. You don't need to walk me there. Unless…"

"Unless?" Sakura questioned.

"Unless you wanna ogle the other knights!" Naruto nodded. Sakura blushed and Naruto started laughing. "Ahah! Sakura's a pervert!"

Sakura started shaking visibly, but she tried to clam herself. 'Not what I was going to say, but it will do… I guess…' "Never mind! Let's go Naruto." Narut nodded, while still snickering. Sakura simply rolled her eyes at the boy who seemed like her little brother. She never had one, but she cared for this kid. He was so full of life. Something that this castle hadn't had in a long time.

When Naruto and Sakura arrived at the courtyard, they saw Ino talking with the generals. "Hey Ino!" Naruto cried out, as he ran over to greet her. Ino stopped and looked at Naruto.

"Naruto," she said, sounding irritated, although her face didn't show it. "I'm kind of busy right now. How about you go train?"

"Oh… Okay," Naruto said as he turned around. When he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned around to see a mysterious masked man.

"Hold on there, Naruto," the man said. "My name is Kakashi. Ino told me everything. How about I go help you with your training?"

Naruto smiled at the mysterious man. He had a weird mask, and weird hair, but he seemed nice. Naruto nodded and pulled the man's arm along to an empty spot.

Kakashi, unbeknownst to anyone, except his lover, was smiling at the boy's enthusiasm. No one but his lover, Iruka, could tell what Kakashi was thinking, or what his facial expressions were. It was no secret that they were dating. But Kakashi had the feeling that no matter how many times he told this blond kid, he would still be surprised when he found out.

Naruto stopped in an open area. "Kakashi!" he said. "Teach me ho-"

"It's Kakashi-sensei," Kakashi corrected.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Teach me how to use that cool chakra power to do that!" Naruto pointed at Neji. Or rather, three of Neji. They were shadow clones.

Kakashi nodded. "That's easy Naruto. Those clones are used to deceive your enemies. Do these handsigns." Kakashi performed the handsigns slowly. "And then this happens," he said, as another Kakashi appeared. "Of course, these are only fakes. See?" Kakashi touched the clones shoulder, and it disappeared.

"Cool!" Naruto said. "Let me try!" Naruto repeated the handsigns, and the next thing he knew it, he found another Naruto right next to him. "Cool!" they both exclaimed at the same time, and gave each other a high five.

Kakashi looked at the other Naruto. "Naruto," he said simply. "Fight yourself."

The real Naruto cocked his head like he was crazy, but the clone Naruto punched Naruto. Hard… In fact, so hard, that Naruto was thrown back. Naruto fell into Sasuke who was practicing his taijutsu on a dummy. Sasuke fell over, with Naruto on top of him.

"Get off me loser…" Sasuke growled. He was sweating and also blushing, from the close proximity.

"I'm not a loser!" Naruto yelled back, not even realizing he was on top of Sasuke.

"Who make a clone, and lets that clone punch him?" Sasuke replied, his blush not thinning down at all. However, Naruto mistook it for exhaustion.

"Ohmygod!" Naruto yelled out. "The clone!" Naurto took a kunai that was on the ground and threw it at the fake Naruto that was charging at him. The kunai hit right on where the heart would be, and the clone dissipated in a cloud of smoke. Narut blinked as the kunai fell to the ground. "That was cool!" Sasuke finally got tired of blushing, and kicked Naruto off of him. "Oww!" Naruto yelped. "What did I do to you?!"

"You didn't move," Sasuke stated. "Now stop talking before I light you on fire. You're loud voice is giving me a headache…"

Naruto, completely forgetting the threat, turned back to Kakashi. "Oooh! Kakashi-sensei! Teach me how to breathe fire like Sasuke! That was cool when I saw it a first!"

Kakashi, who had been reading his book, started walking towards them. "Sorry Naruto," he said. "That jutsu is an Uchiha specialty. Only members of Sasuke's clan can learn it. If you ask politely, he might teach it to you."

Naruto turned to Sasuke. "Please Sasuke?" he asked, with puppy dog eyes. "I really really really want to learn. Please?"

Sasuke frowned at Naruto. "No," he simply said, before walking off. Naruto pouted but stomped off in the opposite direction, for lack of better things to do. Kakashi looked at both of them before shrugging and walking off to harass his lover some more.

* * *

Naruto pouted as he sat in Sasuke's room. His shirt was off, and he was just lying down on the bed. Earlier, Sakura had asked to take it off, saying she needed to take off some of the bandages. Then she left without even giving his shirt back. Naruto sighed. He kept staring at the wall, not knowing what to do. He wanted to keep training, but because of the incident with Sasuke, he didn't want to go back. Suddenly, he heard something slide under the door. Naruto got up and ran over to where there was a letter in front of the closed door. Naruto picked it up and opened it. Inside, was a letter that said…

_Naruto,_

_Come to the courtyard tonight. I want you there with no one else around. I want to tell you how I feel. It's hard to tell you in a letter. Please… Just come…_

_ Sasuke_

Naruto didn't know the reason for the strange letter but he took it and put it on the bed. Naruto looked out the window. It would be night soon… Naruto would go right after dinner.

* * *

"And that is all, Lady Tsunade," Sakura said as she bowed politely.

Lady Tsunade nodded. "I see. Thank you Sakura." She then turned to a man with eccentric white hair and red markings running from his eyes down to his face. "What do you think of all this Jiraiya?"

The odd man, deemed Jiraiya, held his chin in a thoughtful manner. "There is no doubt about it," he said, having made up his mind. "This boy is definitely the vessel of Kyuubi. If Sakura has seen the seal, then this further proves my point. We must teach him how to use his powers without being corrupted. If we can utilize the Kyuubi's powers, we may be able to finally stop the Akatsuki once and for all."

* * *

Itachi and Pein sat at a table together. Itachi didn't feel like talking. He only stared down at his rice and didn't bother to talk. Pein smiled at him. "Now now, 'Tachi-kun," he said playfully. "We didn't need that brat. Everything is better off without him."

Itachi stared at Pein with red eyes. "Don't talk to me like that. Only Naruto is allowed to."

"Still stuck with your ex, are you?" Pein asked. "You'll soon learn that you'll be even more powerful without that brat."

Itachi wanted to say no. He wanted to kill this man who forcibly separated his beloved from him. But he simply sat there and took it. There was nothing he could do. After all, he was the leader…

Deidara soon came running into the small room excitement evident on his slightly feminine face. "You'll never guess what Saso-kun and I found out!"

Pein turned to Sasori as he walked in, but Itachi showed no sign of recognition for the two. "Itachi," Sasori said. "You may want to listen to this."

Itachi slowly turned his head to the two of them. "What?" he asked in a cold venomous voice that promised death if it wasn't something good.

Sasori didn't seem fazed by Itachi's glare. But he didn't speak. It was Deidara that blurted it out. "Naruto is alive!"

Itachi's eyes widened, it that was possible. He rarely ever showed any emotion other than hate since Naruto left, and it had only been a week. That was really how much Itachi loved and always wanted to be with Naruto.

"Is that it?" Pein said, with a sneer. "That brat is a waste. We don't need him. We'll take down the damned castle ourselves."

Deidara smiled one of his knowing smiles again. "But there's another thing Pein. Kyuubi's powers have revealed themselves."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the humongous delay on this. I wanted to focus on my other fics, but then I completely forgot about this one. I apologize. Anyways, here it is, and I'll try not to make the next update this long.**

**BTW, In case you're wondering, I reformatted the members of the Akatsuki. Now it is only Pein, Itachi, Sasori, and Deidara. It used to include Naruto but yea...**


	5. Author's Note, NOT A CHAPTER

**NO CHAPTER. JUST GIANT AUTHOR'S NOTE.**

**Had to put that up before you all killed me for getting your hopes up.**

**Alright then, thanks to all who voted, but I already have the results in. This fic will (unfortunately) be going on hiatus. I'm sorry, and I will listen to all your flames/complaints/hate mail, and hopefully be able to respond (if you guys give me a return adress...). I don't know when it will be recontinued, but until then, I need to get my life straight. Thanks you for your cooperation...  
**


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